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48 Issue 558. Februar y 2014
LIFE & LEISURE
e are all told about the
importance of saving
money for our retirement.
Unfortunately, no-one
tells us about all the other
important issues we need
to consider if we are going
to really enjoy this new stage of our lives. The reality is
that there is more to a happy retirement than just good
money management.
If you’re going to spend the next 20-30 years in some
type of full or part-time retirement, don’t you think it’s a
good idea to consider some of the major issues you (and
your partner, if you have one) are going to be faced with?
Some of the more common issues you are likely to
encounter include, living with your partner 24/7, losing
your work friends and networks, missing the challenges
work provides, loss of identity and purpose without a
job, handling the change to a new lifestyle, boredom,
deciding where you’ll live, health problems, changing
your domestic arrangements ... the list goes on.
Unfortunately, life after full-time work isn’t automatically
like a long, stress-free holiday. As you can see, there are
quite a few things to think about, and if you ignore them
or get them wrong the consequences can be an unhappy
20 years.
Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying life in
retirement is full of negatives. Far from it. These years can
be some of the best in our lives. We have the time and,
hopefully, the money to do the things we want to do rather
than the things we have to do. We have lots of freedom
combined with the experience and wisdom that we lacked
in our youth. You can wear the grey hair and wrinkles with
pride because you’ve done a lot of living to produce them.
Think of all the young people you have known, or know of,
who have died before their hair turned grey.
Being over 50 or 60 today has another great advantage.
For the first time in human history we now have the
knowledge and techniques that permit us to delay the
ageing process, which means we are going into our
70s and 80s with good working minds and bodies. The
solution is a combination of regular physical and mental
exercise combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Basically, there are two ways to handle the challenges
you’re likely to encounter in your 50s, 60s and beyond:
You can decide to not think about all this stuff and try
to figure it all out for yourself when it arrives (the hard
way) OR you can do it the easy way and spend a bit of
time thinking about your future life and then call on the
wisdom and experience of a wide range of experts to help
you prepare for some of the challenges.
A Good Starting Point
If the second option sounds like a better idea, we can
help. We have developed a series of questions that are
designed to assist you in thinking about the various
issues you’re likely to encounter over the next few years.
These are available at no cost to Rotarians reading
this article. We call these questions a “Whole of life
retirement plan”. As well as prompting you to consider
various issues, the plan offers answers to many of the
questions through the various books it recommends.
You can download the free “Whole of life retirement
plan” at www.mylifechange.com.au/retirement
This is the rest of your life, so if you want the next
10-20 years to be happy and satisfying, surely it’s worth
investing a little time and effort to think about the issues
raised by these questions.
For more information visit www.mylifechange.com.au
or email paul@mylifechange.com.au 
WHAT YOU’RE
NOT TOLD
ABOUT
RETIREMENT
By Paul McKeon
LIFE & LEISURE
W